


Never Again

by Scribomaniac



Series: Tumblr Prompts [16]
Category: Throne of Glass Series - Sarah J. Maas
Genre: Apocalypse, Elorcan, F/M, Zombies, minor mentions of other characters - Freeform, minor rowaelin, some vaughan too
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-03
Updated: 2020-04-03
Packaged: 2021-03-01 05:40:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,818
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23466286
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Scribomaniac/pseuds/Scribomaniac
Summary: Prompt: What about an Elide/Lorcan zombie!AU fic?? I'm thinking like Lorcan + the court are set up in an abandoned prison or something and Lorcan is off on a long mission where he encounters Elide who's survived due to her wits. He tracks her, saves her, and eventually brings her back to the rest of the group. I love a good fear to love story, if you're open to it :)
Relationships: Elide Lochan/Lorcan Salvaterre
Series: Tumblr Prompts [16]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/670808
Comments: 4
Kudos: 31





	Never Again

Lorcan crashed through the trees of the forest without hesitation or caution. In one hand he held a double barrel shotgun, and in the other a bone knife. His long dark hair was greasy and knotted from days of hard work and pursuit. If he had only come back sooner, if he hadn’t left her alone, maybe she’d be washing his hair for him right now. Her nimble fingers would be running through the strands, gently working her own brand of magic on his horrible excuse for a head of hair. 

_ “Seven days?” She had asked, her teeth worrying her bottom lip.  _

_ He’d nodded, dipping down to kiss her forehead, then her cheek, “Seven days.” Then he kissed her lips. _

Seven days--seven  _ goddamned _ days. That’s all it was supposed to be, all it was supposed to take for him and his Cadre to make it from their fortress to the supply train and back again.  _ Dammit,  _ he swore to himself.  _ How did this happen? _

The snapping of a twig was the only warning he got--thrusting his bone knife up and to his right with preternatural accuracy, Lorcan stabbed the crazed zombie through it’s open mouth, the blade cutting through decomposed flesh and straight to the brain stem. Quick as lightning, he snatched his hand back and continued on. 

_ How did this happen?  _ He wondered again. Aelin suspected a traitor. The burning behind her eyes was so fierce Lorcan had felt their heat as she cursed whoever was responsible. 

He, Aelin, Rowan, and a few others had ventured out from their haven in an abandoned jail house to replenish their supplies. The train sent by the government only came by four times a year and they needed the medicine it brought. The Cadre always knew the risk they took when venturing out into the forest. Zombies ran rampant in these parts. The government kept claiming they’d fix the mess they’d started, and every few years the army would come out to purge the forest, but the problem never really went away. 

_ “Who are you?” He asked, his dark eyes warily watching the limping girl before him. His heart beat rapidly in his chest and his leg throbbed with pain. He’d escaped the last zombie horde without a bite, but not without injury. Still, he turned his body side face, not wanting this girl--this enemy--to see his weakness. She may look as innocent as a deer, but if he learned anything from Lysandra, it was that appearances could be deceiving. _

_ “Put that thing down,” the girl hissed, glaring at his gun. “Do you want to draw them closer?” _

_ Lorcan sneered, “How do I know you’re not one of  _ them _?” Zombies, freshly minted ones, at least, kept their wits about them for days--weeks, even--before the hunger consumed them. _

_ Eyebrow twitching, the girl said, “You’re either an idiot,” she paused to take a deep breath, “or a dick.” _

_ Lorcan blinked, “What?” _

_ The girl’s eyes widened, “Duck!” She screamed, and Lorcan acted on instinct. Ducking, just barely, he saw the glint of a knife fly over where his head had just been and straight into the eye of a zombie. _

_ The knife plunged deep into the eye socket, and the zombie crashed down next to Lorcan’s kneeling form in a dead heap. Mouth agape, he looked back to the woman before him. Nostrils flared and lips pursued, she said, “I’m Elide, and I’d like my knife back, thanks very much.” _

Lorcan had fallen for her instantly. He’d brought her back to the haven with him, introduced her to the cadre. Elide was sharper than any blade, kinder than a saint, and although that one throw to the eye had been a bit of a lucky shot-- _ ”I’d been aiming for it’s mouth,” she’d confessed as she helped him walk home _ \--she was a fighter through and through.

So when he arrived back from their supply run to find the jail house empty of human life and overrun with stumbling zombies, he hadn’t wasted time searching the place. Elide was too smart to stay and try to defend it, especially without the might of the cadre. No, no, Elide would have taken the survivors and gotten out. She had to be out here still. If he could just find her--

Another zombie. This time he’s not able to get his knife up quickly enough. It pins him to the ground, it’s yellow teeth snapping at his throat like a damned piranha. 

_ It was quiet. Most people had gone to bed long ago, but not them. Elide sat by the window, looking up at the night sky. Lorcan sat nearby at the table, a book opened in his lap, it’s pages left unturned.  _

_ Dark eyes flickering over to him, she asked, “Is there something on my face?” Her nose scrunched up, and Lorcan’s heart stuttered. _

_ “No--no,” he coughed to cover up his stumbled words. “I just had a question,” he said it slowly, because he didn’t really have a question. He just liked looking at her, for some reason. But he couldn’t just tell her that. _

_ Cocking her head to the side, Elide’s brows furrowed as she waited for him to continue. Ears burning red beneath his dark hair, he asked, “How did you survive? On your own?”  _

_ It had been a mystery to him. Not a burning one, but a mystery nevertheless. Most people wouldn’t last a day out in the forest alone. Not when the zombies were drawn to the smell of blood like a shark. _

_ “Zombies, they’re not,” she paused, her lips thinning in thought. “I don’t know for sure, but I don’t think they can smell. I don’t think that’s how they hunt. I mean,” she worried her bottom lip with her teeth, “I’d have died a long time ago, if they could,” she laughed. “I think though,” her dark eyes flitted around the room and then landed back on him, “I think they hunt by sound.” _

The crack of a gunshot echoed through the forest. Disrupted birds took their leave of the branches, and the air was knocked from Lorcan’s lungs as he stared up into the eyes of Vaughan. “They’ll have heard that,” Lorcan grimaced, pushing the completely dead corpse off him. Vaughan nodded, then extended a hand to help his friend up.

The two quickly vacated the area, keeping their eyes and ears peeled for any movement or sound that indicated a possible threat. 

_ “The slower you move,” Elide was telling the Cadre her theory as she sat atop a broken and decrepit dryer, “the less sound you make.” Locking eyes with Lorcan first, she then gestured to her ankle, “I’m pretty slow by nature,” she tried to laugh it off, but Lorcan could hear the frustration behind it. “And quiet, which is how I was able to survive outside my uncle’s fortress and make it all the way here.” _

_ “What happened to your uncle’s?” Rowan asked. It was a good question, Lorcan had thought while nodding his head. Perhaps the man had died, or perhaps he’d fallen prey to one of the creatures, or-- _

_ “I ran away,” Elide confessed, her chin raised high and her nostrils flared, almost daring anyone to tell her how stupid she’d been. “I’d rather be eaten by a zombie than live one more day under his roof.” _

_ Aelin purred, “Well someone’s got the fighting spirit.” _

_ Elide locked eyes once more with Lorcan, and he knew instantly: he was in love. _

They couldn’t take Elide’s advice now, though. The slower they went, the more careful they stepped, meant the longer she was in danger. And that was something Lorcan could not tolerate, not while there was still breath in his lungs and a beat in his heart.

“ _ Here _ ,” Vaughan hissed, coming to an abrupt stop. 

Lorcan bared his teeth, preparing for another wave of zombies, but there was nothing. “Vaughan, we don’t have time--” but his friend merely raised a brow and pointed towards a tree. It was small and glinted in the sunlight, and at once Lorcan knew what it was. Lunging forward, he snatched the small ring from the tree’s skinny twig. “Aelin’s ring.” It had been a gift, a small token of friendship and loyalty between Aelin and Elide. Elide never took it off.

“And more,” Vaughan gestured with his chin. Looking off to the distance, there was another item of jewelry, carefully hanging from a tall branch. 

Lorcan followed the trail, picking up items along the way. First Lysandra’s locket, then one of Dorian’s handkerchiefs, even one of Darrow’s cufflinks; each item led him deeper and deeper into the forest until he and Vaughan finally came to an overgrown and shabby barn.

Breathing hard, Lorcan and Vaughan shared a glance. Behind the barn’s giant door could be their people--could be Elide--but it could also be a massacre. Pulling out his bone knife and taking a deep, settling breath, Lorcan took the final few steps and opened the door.

Warm, strong arms quickly wrapped themselves around his neck. Lorcan raised his knife, preparing to launch a counter attack, when he heard a whispered, “Thank god!”

Dropping his weapon, Lorcan tightly wound his arms around Elide’s waist, bringing her even closer than before. “Elide,” he sighed, burying his face into her neck.

There were some hushed murmurs, a small creak as the door opened further, and Lorcan peeked out from Elide’s dark hair just enough to see the rest of the community coming out from hiding. 

Placing Elide down, Lorcan took her face into his hands and brought their foreheads together. “What happened?” He asked quietly, needing to know. If Aelin was right, if they had been betrayed, there’d be blood to pay.

Covering his hands with her own, Elide shook her head and placed a kiss on the base of his palm, “I’ll explain later.”

Kissing her forehead, he brought her closer, tucking her head against his collar bone. Now he could see properly, how many people were in the barn, how many people Elide had saved with her quick wit and ingenuity. 

“You’re okay,” he pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “I’m so--I can’t--” he started then abruptly stopped himself several times until again he said, “You’re okay.”

Elide’s nails dug into his back and even though he could feel the small tremors coursing through her frame, her voice was steady and wry as she asked, “Did you ever doubt me?”

Choking on a laugh, Lorcan stepped back and lifted her chin. Bending down, his lips tenderly kissed hers. There was a great deal of love in the small kiss, as well as a great deal of restraint and promise. Elide smiled, knowing that the kiss was only a precursor to what was to come once they were somewhere safe. 

Pulling away, he swore, “Never again.”

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading and I hope y'all enjoyed!


End file.
